The Missing Macaroni Salad












Summertime Saturdays...The aroma of fresh cut grass wafts through the air, taking its sweet, fresh time swimming into your nose... It quickly busies itself creating a re-occurring memory stamp in your mind. This stamp will bring you back to the sun warmed spot in the yard where you sat sipping your cool-aid from a plastic cup. Ice cubes in the shape of star wars characters melting and becoming more delightfully terrifying by the minute... a bit of water spray shoots off the car windshield where your big brother is washing, making a flash rainbow, the water droplets falling almost in slow motion, you wonder if anyone else noticed the rainbow, almost like a secret between you and the sun.
You see your mom setting the picinic table with plastic cups and plates, forks and knives, the red checkered table cloth, big pitchers of iced tea. Your Grandma hollers for you to come help bring the food from the kitchen... Fried chicken, green salads, baked rolls, and of course, The Macaroni salad....
You all sit down to eat, your big fuzzy dog is sitting patiently at your feet, under the table, carefully hidden from Grandma's all seeing eyes. You say grace and the meal is carried out in all it's summer picnic glory!
Now, you are in New York City, (or Chicago, Seattle) some "odd (old) years older" then you were. You do not have space for a big dog, or time on Saturday afternoon for a leisure picnic, and you are always afraid that you could quite possibly miss the entire three weeks most cities have to offer their sunshine altogether!
You tend to go out in the evenings instead, lofts and rooftops are ideal places to get a few friends together, spread a few blankets and have some traditional summertime meals! Accompanied by some wine and your new favorite indie band (that just happens to be made up of your new girlfriends roommates.)
You want to re-create those Summertime memories, the ones that are stamped into your brain, the ones that are triggered by typical summertime activities...smells, noises, tastes... But seeing how if anyone does have a yard there is no grass to cut, and the primary noises that you hear are angry people complaining about the Summer heat in business suits, taste is your best bet!
That brings us to the main course of this article! (Pun intended...)
The recipe for successful Summer memory triggers, (fried chicken takes too long, and iced tea is not really alcoholic so...) MACARONI SALAD is the winner!
Ingredients
  • 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1/4 cup grated carrot (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers (optional)
Directions
  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, green pepper, carrot, pimentos and macaroni. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacob_Botha

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